Category: issues

“These powers can be used to set standards, to lead by example, to show what a stupendously beautiful place, as Johnson might put it, the new ‘densified’ London could be. Instead he has approved all of the projects he has chosen to determine, often overruling boroughs’ opposition.”

“Between 2008 and 2013 states reduced financial support to top public research universities by close to 30 percent. At the same time, these states increased support of prisons by more than 130 percent.”

“In formal economic terms, ‘innovation’ involves the diffusion of new things and practices. The term is completely agnostic about whether these things and practices are good. Crack cocaine, for example, was a highly innovative product in the 1980s, which involved a great deal of entrepreneurship (called ‘dealing’) and generated lots of revenue.”

“The AIF’s research in 2014 found that 58% of people cite overall experience and atmosphere as the main reasons for their purchase of a festival ticket, and that just 7% said it was the headlining acts. This adds credence to the theory that participation is going to be the prevalent theme in modern festival-going.”

Funding artists is great but when the support happens only through the whim of a single funder, the ground might not be stable…

“One thing is certain: the percentage of those who live alone has increased dramatically. In the US, 27% of people live alone, up from 5% in 1920, and in New York City it’s roughly one third. The same trend is evident in Canada, and even more pronounced in Europe – 58% of people in Stockholm live alone, a figure that is considered the highest in Europe.”

These days, “when amateur enthusiasts are as likely to review your work as Fleet Street experts (albeit self-proclaimed) and when most readers, if we’re honest, skim newspaper reviews and skip to the pithier comments, are you entitled to tell the blogger to fuck off as publicly as they rubbish your work when you think they’ve been unfair?” Maybe, suggests Phil Wilmott.

Egypt’s leading contemporary arts space, “Townhouse gallery in central Cairo has been shut to staff after a section of the recently renovated five-storey building collapsed on Wednesday. The neighbouring Cairo Hackerspace, a community workspace for engineers, designers and artists, was completely destroyed.” The attached Rawabet Theatre has reportedly come through without damage.

“When asked about a female Hamlet, 48% did not like the idea. This contrasts with only 15% who were in favour, and 28% who were ‘neutral’. … Of the same sample, nearly a third had positive feelings about a black or minority ethnic Hamlet, compared with 20% who felt negatively about it.”

Creative New Zealand, the island nation’s arts funding body, has warned arts organizations to prepare for 10% reductions in grants. “Creative New Zealand receives two-thirds of its annual revenue from Lotto NZ profits, and is set to receive NZ$11 million less this financial year than in 2013-14.”